The Birth and Evolution of Witchcraft in Seventeenth-Century New England with Mirrsha Ganthan

Before Europeans established colonies in America, magical practices and traditions were an essential part of European life. People who practiced magic, often referred to as “cunning folk” or “wise folk,” were respected and valued by their communities. They were experts in the arts of healing and divining and were often the first people their neighbors would turn to in times of hardship. Magic was so much a part of daily life that people would practice it in their own homes, especially given that many magical rituals did not require any training. Magic was used to heal the sick, protect people and their families from harm intended towards them by others with whom they had disagreements; protect their livestock and economic stability from natural and deliberate causes; and to ease daily difficulties such as aiding in finding lost belongings.

Puritans in solemn worship, lithograph from The Church of England: A History for the People, 1910.

The Christian church coexisted peacefully with folk magic for a time, and even incorporated some magical practices into their religious traditions. In his book The Devil’s Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England, Richard Godbeer tells us that the Church taught that any person could “wield supernatural power through sanctioned rituals: the performance of ecclesiastical ritual, if accompanied by sincere religious feeling, could heal sickness and protect against harm.” However, due to the similarity of Christian and folk rituals, people would often confuse the two and use both. The church began to distinguish the two by claiming that Christian rituals functioned by calling upon divine assistance, whereas non-Christian rituals were less specific in the energy they drew upon and could therefore be associated with demonic entities. The people, who saw no difference in the origin of the power they drew upon and focused more on the results, paid no mind and continued using the practices with which they were accustomed. The Protestant vein of Christianity saw the emergence of a more conservative line of thought which rejected the Catholic notion that humans could wield any type of supernatural power, and that all things were subject to the will of God and God only. They did not approve of the use of magical rituals by the people or within the church. The divide between Protestants and the rest of their communities continued to increase until the early seventeenth century, when the Puritans departed across the Atlantic in pursuit of a godlier way of life.

Matthew Hopkins, Puritan Witch-Hunter General, The Discovery of Witches, 1647.

Upon the arrival of the Puritans in New England, ecclesiastical magic was no longer accepted. However, folk magic flourished among the colonies. The people continued to practice magic to heal and protect themselves, and some even used it to harm others. Godbeer writes “The absence of witch trials during the early years of settlement is not surprising: a formal accusation was unlikely to take place until there had been time for a gradual build-up of public hostility toward a suspect individual within the new community; townsfolk rarely brought charges until they had accumulated a substantial body of evidence against the suspect witch.” Over time, accusations of witchcraft became a kind of retaliation against those in the community that seemed to deviate from their acceptable social norms. In her book Handmaidens of the Devil, Carol Karlsen discusses the stereotypical witch – middle-aged or old women who stood to receive large inheritances – and the ways in which witchcraft accusations became a way to use them as a scapegoat for the misfortunes of their neighbors. She writes “They are almost always described as deviants – disorderly women who failed to, or refused to, abide by the behavioral norms of their society…. These norms varied with prevailing class, gender, and racial assumptions, which construed behavior appropriate for some social groups as inappropriate for others.” Consequently, witchcraft became almost synonymous with social deviance. We see evidence of this in the following examples:

In his paper “Diabolical Duos: Witch Spouses in Early New England,” Paul Moyer discusses the witchcraft accusations made against couples in the middle-seventeenth century as well as during the Salem witch trials. He writes “while the wives and husbands denounced for witchcraft during these two periods have much in common, they are distinguished by issue of child bearing.” Such couples in the middle-seventeenth century were suspected by their neighbors due to the fact that they were producing fewer offspring than others in the community.

Since contributing to the labor force was essential to the survival of the colonies, those with few children or infertility issues were thought to be intentionally disrespectful towards the social norms of their time, which were heavily influenced by their religious beliefs. Later in the century, when populations were larger and there was no need to have as many children, the couples that were targeted were suspected of witchcraft on the basis of raising their children in ways that were perceived by others in the community as ungodly and would lead them towards the Devil. Once again, society saw social deviance, this time in the form of unapproved parenting styles, as evidence of rebellion against God and social norms, and therefore, of witchcraft.

The Devil Re-Baptizing Men and Women in the Pact, from The Compendium Malifarcarum, 1610.

The origins of witchcraft may have begun as a continuation of using magic as a normal and essential part of life, but its evolution shows the practice of magic turned into a disrespect towards God and Puritan values. Since any form of social deviance became a suspicious act, New Englanders saw it as evidence enough to accuse their neighbors of witchcraft, regardless of them practicing magic.

Sources and Further Reading:

• The Devil’s Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England by Richard Godbeer
• Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England by Carol F. Karlsen
• “Diabolical Duos: Witch Spouses in New England” by Paul Moyer